Milford 1976

(back row) l-r: David Garnett, David Redd, Judy Blish, Jerry Schutz, Andrew Stephenson, Christopher Priest, Robert Holdstock, Duncan Lunan. (front row) l-r: Charlotte Franke, Richard Cowper, Pamela Bulmer (Photo kindly sent by Christopher Priest.)

From Andrew Stephenson's Archive and David Langford's Checkpoint

Tue 5 Oct 1976 - Sat 9 Oct 1976
@ Compton Guest House, 59-61 Keyhaven Rd, Milford-on-Sea, Lymington, Hampshire, SO4 0QX

Buckley, Kathryn (= Bulmer, Pamela): "The Legacy", 4500ww
Cowper, Richard: "A Rose Is A Rose Is A Rose... In Search Of Roger Zelazny" (essay),
Franke, Charlotte (= F-Winheller, C): "Children Of The Flying City", 11000ww
Garnett, David S.: "Warlord Of Earth", 4000ww
Holdstock, Robert: "Earth And Stone", 7000ww
Lawrence, J.A.: "As The Crow Flies",
Lunan, Duncan: "A Snail Called Thunder", 8000ww
Priest, Christopher: "The Watched", 10000ww of 17500ww
Redd, David: "The Man With Only Two Minds", 8200ww
Schutz, J.W.: "Cast A Red Shadow", 8000ww
Stephenson, Andrew: "<<details lost>>",

MILFORD MEETING: (Rob Holdstock reports) "The fifth English Milford Writer's Convention took place on the 4th-10th October in the Compton Hotel, Milford-On-Sea, and was an unmitigated success as usual. The conference, originated by Jim and Judy Blish in this country, is the high point of several writers' year, mine included. If it lacks heavy-weight presence (the conference, which is a critical workshop, is no place to air egos) it nevertheless represents an annual gathering of a cross-section of some of the best new and established professional and semi-professional writers. And me, they let me in too. This year those present were: Chris Priest (who brought in my opinion the best story of the workshop, a multi-level study of voyeurism called "The Watched"), Andrew Stephenson (who was remarkably fit for a man who's just finished his first novel, Nightwatch, due out mid-77), Richard Cowper (still shattered at being described as a 'boy writer' by Fantasy & Sf -- he's just beginning work on a new sf novel), Judy Lawrence (American writer in English, resident in Greece), Charlotte Franke (German all-rounder: writer, publisher, editor), Jerry Schutz (a gentleman writer), Pamela Bulmer (a critic of considerable merit and breath), Dave Redd (remember him from the sixties? This fine young Welsh writer is coming back in a big way), Dave Garnett (he no longer wishes to be 'Dav' -- here's another who will be back in force just as soon as he buries his last MS: "Rayguns Forever"), Duncan Lunan and his book, Man & The Stars (an inseparable pair; Duncan's recorder-like memory makes him a fund of anecdotes and light, witty stories), and me, they let me in too.

"Three manuscripts a day were dissected right until the bitter end, and evening discussions (on 'Writing From The Unconscious', 'Putting Personal Experience Into Writing', and 'Publishing Horror Stories') all provoked fascinating and furious argument. And there was Chris Priest's frisbee too, and a party on Saturday that was every bit as wild and memorable as last year's. The conference is open to all serious writers of sf, whether full-time or not. If you're interested in attending next year's, contact Chris Priest (1 Ortygia House, 6 Lower Rd, Harrow, Middx)." (RH)

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